Cryptocurrency pyramid scheme project, “Khung Nong Cryptocurrency Trading” made its investors suffer losses of more than $2.46 million an equivalent of THB75 million.
According to the report done by Bangkok Post on Jan 16, the victims, who are about 20 in number are seeking justice by asking for deeper investigation beyond that of the local police of Thailand’s Krabi province.
Currently, there is a human rights lawyer who is investigating the case through the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) of Thailand. DSI is a branch of the Ministry of Justice that is dedicated to dealing with special cases such as that related to crime and national security.
The alleged pyramid scheme was offering a lucrative deal to its investors whereby investors were promised a weekly return of 8% which is high by all standards. Investors did all they could to tap into the deal including selling their physical assets such as land to raise capital for the investment. Investors were mainly from Krabi, Pattani, Trang, Narathiwat, and Yala.
When the project was starting, dividends were being paid but it may be a strategy to lure in more investors. Five months down the line from October 2018, there are no dividends that were being paid or rather the company was giving out dividends in the form of cheques that were bouncing.
Thailand is at the forefront of dealing with cryptocurrency regulations. Back in November 2018, it making headlines for trying to regulate an ICO portal to show its tough stance in dealing with cryptocurrency and blockchain in general.
Crypto-criminals are dealt with seriously. In September 2019, there is a crypto-criminal that was arrested over allegations of crypto exchange fraud. That is not the only crypto-related case being dealt with harshly as in 2018 there is a Thai soap opera star that was arrested for taking part in a Bitcoin investment scam that swindled investors up to $24.6 million.
Thailand as a country is bubbling as far as cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption are concerned. Currently, Ripple is partnering with a cryptocurrency exchange in the country to promote XRP adoption. With an exchange on the ground, XRP liquidity will increase and that will encourage more people to adopt the currency. There are also many blockchain-related projects currently going on meaning the country will be leaps ahead than most Southeast Asian countries.
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